Painting Cabinets and Cabinetry

Painting built-in cabinetry and bookcases is a time-consuming job because of the many surfaces. Paint built-ins after you've painted the wall.

Remove adjustable shelves and paint them first so they'll be dry when you're ready to reinstall them. If possible, paint them in another room to get them out of your way, and support their edges with nails driven into predrilled holes in the ends. That way, you don't have to wait for one surface to dry before painting the other one. Be sure to remove the shelf supports before you paint the inside of the cabinet.

You can paint the cabinet doors either on or off the cabinet, but removing them makes painting easier. Remove the hardware from both the cabinet and the doors.

If you prefer to leave the doors on, as shown here, you probably won't need to paint the interior of the cabinets. If you do, paint them from the inside out as shown in the illustration at right.

Remove drawer hardware and stand the drawers on their backs. Paint the fronts and leading edges, but don't paint any other part of the drawer or the tracks inside the cabinet. For cabinets with fixed shelving, paint them in the order shown at right.

Prestart Checklist

Time
From 1 to 2 days, depending on size of cabinet installation and your skill level and experience

Prepare the cabinets as you would any other surface, cleaning mildewed spots and washing the entire surface to remove dirt and grease. Repair or replace damaged wood and cover any surface you want protected.

To get your sandpaper into all the contours of paneled doors, use a contoured sander, a small sponge wrapped with sandpaper, or a commercial sanding sponge.

Painting cabinets: Step 2

Since paint won't stick to glossy surfaces, scuff-sand them with 150-grit sandpaper or use a commercial deglossing agent. Apply the deglosser in sections small enough that you can paint them within an hour. Applying paint within an hour after the deglosser will give you better adhesion.

Paint the sides and other open areas of the cabinets. You can speed this application with a roller, but if you do, back-brush the rolled paint to level it and make its surface consistent with the rest of the unit.

While the cut-in edges are still wet, fill in the remainder of the wall. You can use a roller here without going to the trouble of back-brushing, but you may find it more convenient to apply the paint with a 7-inch or smaller roller.